kaylie and I in catalina

yesterday and today

I didn't post yesterday.
We're having a hard time getting over this stomach bug. Kaylie is on round two of it and stayed home today due to being up all night long, poor girl. My stomach perpetually hurts and Claire just...stinks.
Josh got home Sunday night and started a new job being filmed on the Disney lot the very next morning. And...we had to cross the picket line. I say "we" because I dropped him off and picked him up the first day. He's not in any union (yet) and he's not doing the writers' job, so he's not technically a scab, is he?

I lost our children today

I've never done that before. I've known where they were every second of their 10 and 6 years together. I couldn't find them after school. I raced laps around the school; across the playground, past the kinder building, into one hallway, checking classrooms and bathrooms, swing around the other hallway, still checking everywhere, trying to control my rising panic. They were supposed to meet in front of room 16 for the jewelry sale but the sale was called off. Claire was freaking because she'd been told what to do, damn it, and she didn't want to get busted. Kaylie finally met up with Claire and out of the goodness of her heart because she didn't want her baby sister to cry (which means she wanted to buy some jewelry, of course!), asked the teacher who was doing the jewelry sale if she'd bring in the stuff anyway so they could buy something. Lovely teacher that she is, she did. I was actually talking to that teacher when I was walking in to school and she was carrying a box of jewelry. Hey, I had to cut her some slack, we've never had her as a teacher. She didn't know those were my kids. I started alerting teachers and other parents while I ran laps and called anyone I knew who might have seen my girls. For about 90 seconds I stood on the steps in front of the school with my heart heavy as a rock in my gut, told myself that it was time to call Josh. I couldn't find our children. Our daughters, our babies, the golden children we'd be nothing without. I was sure someone saw them alone and took them for themselves and I was going to have to kill myself. And then they appeared like two blue-eyed, brown-haired angels and I wanted to throttle the little jewelry-saturated grins off their faces. They faded quickly enough once they realized what had been going on. They'd been in the classroom - a bungalow - during my frenzy. I took the drive home to cool off (by telling them I couldn't talk to them yet, they were already sobbing at that point) and then got their stories. We cried, hugged, called Daddy and talked about all the different reasons for waiting in the allotted area near the office and how they'd given me a headache I'd never be able to get rid of.

A few hours later we were off to Family Movie Night at school which was a whole new fresh sort of hell. Post-dinner parents burping and farting up a storm in a small-ish auditorium watching Shrek 2 while the kids run around screaming, screaming, screaming , screaming. So much screaming! Without them though, the silence would be deafening.

birthday party pics

details about the car and the past few days

Last weekend we were in Las Vegas for Rory's bat mitzvah. It was a big deal: our first experience at temple services, a weekend trip, all the aunts, uncles and cousins in one place at one time for a huge party. It was fabulous! We truly had a wonderful time. While we were gone we took the Camry, natch, since Josh's 1991 Honda Civic Si with 282,000 miles would probably make it there, but you don't want to take chances with probably when driving through the desert. Josh swung his car around from its usual spot in the front of our house to the Camry's vacant spot in the driveway.

When we got back on Sunday night and put the Camry back in the driveway to unload, Josh moved the Civic to a spot in front of the vacant house one house away at the end of the cul-de-sac.

Monday came and went uneventfully, except that I was now sick after being stuck with Mr. Sicky McSickPants in a car for 6 hours. Boy, I didn't see that one coming. And I'm such fun when I'm sick!

Tuesday morning the girls were late because mommy called in sick since daddy was home and able to cover the morning shift. He left the house a little after 9:00. He doesn't recall checking for his car when he left but I suspect it was still there since the car's absence would surely have registered in his detailed Virgo brain. Fast forward to him charging into the house asking where his car is, complete with the soundtrack of sirens racing to an accident somewhere nearby. That's always fun...the sound of sirens and then someone bursting into the house yelling. I was now awake. Sure enough, no car. Gone. It couldn't be reposessed...someone stole it? Seriously? STOLE IT?! A car made in 1991 with 280K+ miles on it? Granted, it had a new engine and transmission and it's worth way more parted out than it was as a whole ($1200) but FUCK! I think that someone wanted it for parts and watched the house enough that they knew there would be a 15-20 minute window when we were gone taking the girls to school. Jackholes. I'd like to have words with the little Honda-racing punks that jacked my husband's source of transportation to work to support his family. I hope they don't graduate from high school and all their friends do. I hope they get crabs, shingles and hand/foot/mouth disease. I hope they break out in furious, red, itchy rashes of unknown origin. I hope they wipe their asses with poison oak, and that's being nice.

It remains to be seen if the car was taken for a joyride home by some idiot, in which case we might actually see it again (the "community officer" who took the police report said they actually do recover quite a few stolen cars) or if some little racing fuck jacked it for parts, in which case it will live on in a handful of other Hondas that I hope get attacked by rust and have sugar poured in their gas tanks.

Tomorrow is Kaylie's TENTH BIRTHDAY. Ten. I've been a a mother for ten years. It's absolutely mind-boggling. In those early years of parenting I was never able to see this far ahead into the future but as everyone warns you, the future comes too soon. You really think you'll remember all those infuriating, annoying trials for the rest of your life but you don't. You remember sweet milky breath, chubby sugar baby thighs and the smell of diapers until you blink and that sweet baby is now eye level with you. It's still sweet, but in an entirely different way. So hold on to your babies while they're small, mamas. Time passes on too quickly.

Kaylie's 10th birthday bash has a Japanese dinner party theme - red, black and white. We're serving sushi, edamame, rice balls, gyoza (potstickers), yakitori (teriyaki chicken on a skewer that I already warned Josh we didn't have enough of) and I'll probably put out cute pb&j's for the party guests with sensitive palates. We're going to play games with chopsticks and learn the dance to that terrible crunk song Soulja Boy that's all the rage. (if only they'd had the internet and youtube back when I was young! so much awkwardness could have been avoided!) The goody bags are the BEST though. Josh and I put together a bunch of crap from the 99 cent store and the Japanese market in little square brightly colored tupperware containers (3 for $1) and the the addition of some sushi grass, voila! Faux bento boxes aka goody bags. Really one of my finer creative moments (did I mention I already had the sushi grass on hand?) but Josh did help so I can't take all the credit. Damn it.

Look for birthday photos sometime over the weekend.

it's good to be back

School started today. Both girls got the teachers I requested - hooray for small triumphs! A good teacher makes all the difference. The girls were SO excited for the first day, all tummy-flutters and new clothes and shoes and backpacks. I even made them little crafty name tags for their backpacks. We saw all our old friends and teachers and realized how much we'd missed them over the summer. It's so nice to be back into a routine and to have happy, tired kids at the end of the day.

sweetheart ball pics

christmas girlies

costume pics!

Claire as Jasmine, complete with Raja

Kaylie as Hermione and Hannah as Hannah Montana, natch.

(Kaylie is carrying books labeled "Defense Against The Dark Arts" and "Magical Beasts and Where To Find Them", as well as a S.P.E.W. badge - HOW HERMIONE IS THAT?!)

and the piece de resistance...my little brother Paul as Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

(if you don't know who he is, look him up and check out the comparison)

I did the search for you so all you have to do is click! Do it now!

the birthday girl and the vessel

she is born

....and Earth will never be the same.

-Virginia Kroll, "She Is Born"

nine years ago today

-was my due date with Kaylie :)

-I went into labor at 8:30 pm when my water broke at El Torito...yes, you read that right.

IN the actual restaurant. It was a scene straight out of a movie

I can't believe she's going to be nine.

eventful day

The first day of school! Woo-hoo! School rocks, doesn't it kids? Yeah it does! Let's go!
NOT!
I don't want summer to be over! I don't want to deal with schedules and pick-ups and drop-offs and lame principals and teacher drama and "I don't want to gooooo" whining. I want to spend my days at the beach, as I please,

thugaboo

Who wants to pre-order this for Kaylie? We're (she and I) dying to know if her name is in the credits. And how appropriate is it that it's Sneaker Madness?! This should be a gift from Uncle Paul, for sure.

Speaking of Uncle Paul and sneakers, last month he won Best Vintage Collection at the Sole Collectorr/NikeTown Sneaker Competition in Las Vegas. Gooooooooooo, bro!

jeans!

Is there anything worse than shopping for jeans? Okay, aside from shopping for bathing suits. Shudder. But seriously, if your body is strangely shaped in any way, finding jeans that fit properly is like going on a scavenger hunt. I made my peace long ago by switching to men's jeans or stretch denim (mom jeans!) once those became common. But my poor, poor Kaylie. God bless her and her mismatched body. Josh and I really did a doozy on her! My generous bottom, dancer's thighs and freakishly non-existant waist combined with Josh's trunk-like calves, ankles and turned in feet. So yeah - she hasn't had jeans that fit her properly since she was wearing a size 4T.

Until today! We just happened to be buying some cute tees at Sears and I came across the perfect pair of jeans. No joke, it was one of those situations where the jeans were glowing on the shelf with a perfect spotlight on them, just sitting and waiting for me. Genuine Levi's, dark stretch denim. Not cut low in the waist but lower than most. Size 10 1/2. These things fit like a GLOVE. Like they were custom made for my girl. Her butt looks adorable in them! Who knew?!



Three cheers for the perfect jeans!

this-n-that

Happy Birthday to my Grammy, who is 85 today!

Welcome to the world Camaili Xeris (Kuh-mai-lee Cee-reese) who arrived less than 2 hours ago. She weighs 7 pounds, 10 ounces and is 19.5 inches long. Congrats to Jannette, Peter, PJ and Viani!

And Jannette - I TOLD YOU IT WAS A GIRL!!!

I finished reading Good Grief today. I about cried through the whole book. Between the book's subject matter (a young widow) and just getting my husband back after two weeks, it hit pretty close to home. I don't remember being more grateful for my wonderful, sweet husband who is also my best friend. To have him home to warm my feet in bed or his strong hands to hold is a gift I'll never stop thanking the universe for. That we've found each other is a miracle. I don't ever want to be without him.

Meanwhile, manipulation runs rampant with The Neighbors. Suddenly because I had to back out of doctor appointment duty due to Kaylie being sick - AGAIN (but that's another story) - I'm undependable, ungrateful and worthless. She doesn't realize how thinly her spite is veiled and how even if it were better hidden, I would still be able to hear it. I'm familiar with contempt, especially coming from her. But no, I took my sick kid who stayed home from school to the doctor and she had to end up taking her own mother to a later, re-scheduled appointment. Oh, the horror. I was responsible for my shit, she was responsible for hers. What-thefuck-EVER.

So the girls had their physicals Monday and all measures up well. The most exciting thing is that Kaylie is now on a regimen of Singulair, Flonase and albuterol for pre-exercise. I'm really hopeful that this will all work out for her and we won't have any more of these nightmare allergy attacks. Claire is slightly anemic and needs to take vitamins, but has so far refused. Kaylie also still needs a fiber supplement, but has refused those too. So tomorrow we call the doctor for a prescription for Miralax for Kaylie and liquid vitamins for Claire.

my boyfriend's back...

...but no one's in trouble. How did I ever survive without him?
The girls are over the moon. Kaylie keeps stroking his arm and giving him random kisses and snuggles. Claire just needs Daddy for everything. He's surprised at how Kaylie's grown up in the past few weeks too.

Swimming again today. It must have been a thousand degrees. We wouldn't survive if we weren't able to be in the water! I love the beginning of summer (btw, Spring only lasts a few weeks in my opinion). New bathing suits, new goggles, pool toys, sunscreen. Of course I had to try the new Coppertone Continuous Spray sunblock and I give it two thumbs up for beach use. It does leave a dry film after swimming, but application took like 5 seconds for each kid and you don't need to rub it in. Just let it dry. At the pool, I'd just go with regular sunscreen. Doesn't make much difference.

Cat got a lizard yesterday. It lived. I released it. Another whopper. Where's my counter?

We went to the 5 Freeway Series yesterday, also known as the Dodgers vs. Angels game at Dodger Stadium. It was the girls' first professional baseball game. It totally rocked, except that the Angels won. We had nachos, Dodger Dogs (which Claire wolfed down in record time, shocking us all), peanuts (yeah, I caught the bag with my right hand and the left side of my face. if only Dodgervision had caught that moment!), cotton candy and MORE nachos. There's nothing like singing the National Anthem in a stadium full of people on a warm near-summer night. Talk about feeling patriotic. I'm so glad my kids got to experience that for the first time!

Sigh. Joshie's home. My world is complete again.

a whole week

It's been a week since Josh left. It will be a week until he gets home. It feels like a week since I've last sat down to take any time for myself and write.

Kaylie started out sick last Saturday. Just a cough and cold, but that coughing bullshit is hard for me, what with all the lovely issues I have. I know it's hard on her too, so believe me I try my best to comfort her. Then Claire got sick. Stayed home from school on Thursday cause she coughed all day. I'm not mentioning the unthinkable because I really can't deal with anyone else being sick right now and so far, so good.

Something (most likely a lizard) crawled up inside my washing machine and died. I kid you not. Now I know what decomposition smells like. Shudder. If it weren't so freaking hot outside I might even take it upon myself to take the washer apart - it's that bad. But no, it's 91 degrees outside and I'm just barely managing to keep groceries in the house and the bills paid. The weight of the world is literally on my shoulders. (LITERALLY! Hee. That skit was on MadTV the other day)

I have a sharp pain in the center and to the left of my chest. Is that bad?

We're kicking off summer early tomorrow and going to Steph's to swim. Thank goodness the weather is back. Normal, hot California weather. The kind of weather that we pay good money for! This is such a great time of year - school's ending, Open House is coming up (still one of my favorite school events!), all the stores break out the red, white and blue decorations, the sand toys, the shorts, the sunscreen. I get to break out the summer clothes. Pack up the sweaters and long sleeves. We get to play at the park in the evening when it's still warm. Summer fruits and vegetables. Barbecuing. Swimming all day at Steph's. Boogie boarding at the beach. Sand everywhere - and I don't even mind! Sleeping good, long, tired sleeps until we get up and start all over again the next day. No set bedtimes. We can stay out late every night. I love summer.

of course NOW!

Kaylie was home from school sick on Friday. Now Claire is sneezing. "It's just allergies!" I say to myself. But no. When Claire asks for medicine on her own, you can be pretty sure she's feeling yucky. Damn it. And of course, now my throat hurts, my chest is tight and I feel like I have a fever.

Bed sounds good right about now.

is this bad?

That question is kind of along the lines of "Does this look infected to you?" There's never a right answer.
Both of my kids are awake and playing, albeit quietly, on the bed. The 4 year old is wearing upside down fairy wings. When I asked her why she responded, "So if Kaylie (who is sick) needs me, I can fly to her fast, fast, fast!" Yes, she's sweet, but she's also zipping around the house at 2AM. I hope the Robitussin CF kicks in soon.